For anyone that doesn't know, in ancient times when slingers were very common, different cultures would cast uniform lead shot to be used by slingers rather than relying on collecting similar stones. A cache of stockpiled lead shot was found in Athens I believe, and inscribed upon some were inscriptions which translated to "Take this!" or "Catch". Never doubt the wit of a Greek!
Too bad they were Homosexual and Pedophile for little boys, and Ptolemy the First, Soter, was Alexander the Great Bodyguard Captain and His sons named was Ptolemy Philadelphus which means Lover of Siblings
I once visited a ranch where the local kids used slings that they weaves themselves a couple of hours from Mexico City. I learned to use it in about one weekend, meaning I could throw them at quite a distance somewhere in front of me. No accuracy whatsoever. Your skill is amazing. No, your skill is out of this world. They should have this at the Olympics. Instant subscriber!
@dirkthewrench Mate, there is something called "the triple jump". You know how that started? Huh? Well it started with Johnny in London jumping some puddles not to get wet. Then his mother said, "Awesome me boy, we are going to start an olympic sport where you do as if you were jumping puddles"!
I never understood how Hannibal trusted the Balearic slingers to be his trusted skirmishers, engaging first in any combat against the Roman legions who were equiped with broad shields and heavy armor. Now I see that there is much more force behind those shots, and firing at a slow moving wall of shields certainly makes it easier to not miss.
If you aim for a steel shield/helmet, you'll hit but do no damage. The goal of a mass of slinger firing together, is that if 600 stones/pellets fall on 100 soldiers, the odds of those stones hitting the spaces in the helmet, or on the legs, is high. The goal is not to "hit" the armor, but hop that some shot will hit in between, through sheer number.
@@AnimatedStoriesWorldwide It's worth noting that a sling projectile doesn't have to be limited to a tiny pebble. Depending on the size and weight, they'll absolutely still give you a concussion when hitting a helmet, even if they don't fracture your skull outright.
There's a reason why sling projectiles are called "bullets", those things can and will penetrate armor, a shield pelted by these can eventually be punctured.
Virtually the entirety of Hannibal's army were a very diverse group of foreign mercenaries. Which is made his accomplishments even more amazing because his men fought for money while the Roman nationals s fought for out of patriotism. Somehow Hannibal sold his men the war with the Roman Juggernaut as a good way to turn a profit and managed to do so for quite a while.
There is a reason that SLINGS were used for hunting for a very, very long time. They can be accurate. They are also versatile (variety of ammo) and cheap to manufacture (tree fibers, etc).
I think a large part of why they can be so accurate is because they are an extension of our throwing instinct. Our brains are hard wired to figuring out the mechanics of levers attached to our shoulder for putting thrown objects in precise places. This latent knowledge isn't specific to arm geometry, so tools get to benefit.
@@homelessrobot Very much so. The atlatl is another good example of people using a tool to essentially extend their own limbs for more speed on thrown objects.
I’m an archaeologist, and I’ve found lead Roman sling bullets in Portugal. They are small versions of the the elongated shape you use here. So heavy for their size, they must have been deadly!
Recent testing concluded that a 50 gram lead slingstone (likely something resembling those that you've found) can have about as much kinetic energy on impact as a pistol bullet inside the effective range of the sling, so yes, they are absolutely terrifying, actually.
@@alexanderbergbacka6825шарик весом в одну унцию,брошенный с высоты 40 метров,дробит самый крепкий биологический череп- лошадиный.Таким образом,пораженный пращой всадник даже если и не погибал на поле боя,но как боевая еденица выбывал из строя.А что мог сделать целый отряд или даже целая армия,вооруженная пращами( в византийской армии уже в эпоху раннего средневековья пращой должен был владеть любой воин- как конный так и пеший),создав над врагом целый "дождь" из падающих камней и металлических шаров!!💥
@@alexanderbergbacka6825 50 gram object moving 243 fps (the same fps in the video) has 137 joules of energy. A common 9mm has around 418. So no that's bullshit.
Amazing to hear the crack of the sling, like a whip, on release of the stone. And those elongated stones looked absolutely wicked in flight. I had no idea they existed. I can only imagine how devastating it would have been to be hit by one, armor or not. Like a sort of medieval gun, wielded by the gunslingers of their time. Gives a whole new perspective to the "David vs Goliath" story. Amazing. Thanks for sharing this!
Slings were just such a good basic weapon. Easy to get ammo, pretty deadly. One of the main reasons greaves were wrong was because slings would just shatter legs bones on people.
And probably the most important feature of a subsistence weapon; no special tools are required to manufacture it. Just a bunch of scrap fiber and nimble hands.
I have absolutely no doubt that a skilled professional medieval slinger could penetrate, and possibly even perforate a human skull. Ive not looked into this point in any great detail, but I've seen enough videos about it now to have seen a guy punch a hole straight through a fresh coconut at 75 yards. Imagine a ball bearing shaped metal projectile at hundreds of gps smashing straight into a human skull from 15 yards... yeah, I'm sure they could blow someone's brains out with a sling, as gruesome a thought as that is.
something that has always amazed me is the ability us humans have to be able to see an object a distance (sometimes fairly extreme ones) and just be able to tell exactly how we need to angle and move our arms in order to hit said object with a projectile. it's completely natural and require 0 thinking. you just grab a thing, look at target, and let your body and brain do their thing. it's wonderful to me how your brain just somehow knows exactly how much force is needed, what angle, what speed of rotation for your joints, how to position your body, and even where to aim in order to lead a shot. our bodies and minds are wonderful things
When I first started playing tennis with my dad (not well, mind you) at around 12 or 13, I think we were talking about how I was having a hard time getting to the ball to hit it back, and as he was telling me I'd get better at it he told me something like "Think about how difficult this would be to get a robot to do" We see a little ball coming at us, measure its speed and rotation. We probably then predict where that speed and rotation will cause the ball to go after it hits the ground and bounces off. We then figure out where we're going to stand, at what angle to hold this weird extension at the end of our arm, and twist our bodies to hit that ball back at a desired speed to a certain location and with a desired amount of spin And we do that all in a couple seconds or less. And then we get even better at it. Now that I'm older and more experienced, I don't really need to see the spin on the ball at all because I can tell what it will do based on how the other person swung. And sometimes I even have enough of an instinct for it to know a type of shot is coming because of the angle they're standing, where on the court they are, etc All this to say, yeah I agree, we're actually pretty nuts if you break down a lot of the things we're doing and look at them all
Throwing things are human super power. We throw extremely hard and accurately relative to our weight class, instinctually. Other, much stronger primate, can not do this at all. Some don’t even have the biological structure to throw over hand. They may lob a heavy rock a meter or 2 but they can not throw a rock or a spear 50 meters with enough force to kill and enough accuracy to nail a small or moving target
That's why golfers who rely on their natural athletic ability are better than more mechanically minded players. Your brain is amazing and performs calculations for you.
This reminds me a lot of my bedroom trash can. I used to toss trash across my room to that trash can when I was feeling too lazy to get up, and being a teenager at the time that was most of the time. My aim originally was not great. I tried really hard to aim and then throw but would only make it maybe 25% of the time. Then one day while involved in a really intense video game and not having the time to aim I just threw it without thinking and it made it easy. I started doing this more and more and quickly realized that when I didn’t bother to aim at all and did it without thinking about it first, that I was actually successful 75% of the time. I’m even better now, but at the time a 25% to 75% jump was huge especially considering it practically happened over night. That’s when I learned I was thinking about it way too much and my own brain was getting in its own way, I had to stop over thinking and just do. And if it’s something I’ve done often enough muscle memory just takes over, my body and part of my brain know what to do instinctively, I just need to back off and let them do their thing 😂
This channel is the best sling content on youtube. Thanks for the video! I would be interested in seeing a practice curriculum, starting from absolute beginner. For example, beginner projectile recommendations, distance, types of throws to practice from easier to harder, etc., if that's something you would be willing to put up.
And yes, I would absolutely love to see a curriculum as you put it based around level. One of the things I noticed when trying to learn how to blow a horn recently is that a lot of people are good at giving some advice, but most are terrible at breaking it down simple enough and detailed enough for absolute beginners. Not everyone is a natural teacher and there’s nothing wrong with that, but still, if anyone could teach this to me I would be very grateful 😂 I’ve only seen one video so far so I don’t know if he already gives out all the necessary knowledge or not, but either way I’m excited to learn how to sling over the coming weeks lol
The algorithm blessed me with this video. I’ve always wondered how a sling works and seeing it in such detailed motion and explanation really uncovers how incredible this historic weapon and tool this was.
They should put this into the Olympics. Really fun to watch. Seems really rewarding to hit those long range small targets at such speeds too. Maybe they could score on speed+accuracy to encourage maximum force. Your skills are amazing.
Ancient but still deadly weapon. David was a master with it using it to protect his sheep from predators. Just ask Goliath he'll tell you such a thing had never entered his head before that day.
Its amazing how extremely similar the technique (for these slings at least) is to a baseball pitch. The stride, hip and shoulder rotation, the timing, the elbow angles.
The only other sling comparison footage I've ever watched was years ago on a show called "Deadliest warrior". The stone they used was specifically tapered by hand into a rough football shape but was much smaller that what you're throwing. They dismissed it as not doing a fatal amount of damage but I'd be curious to see what one of these larger stones does to a skull (simulated of course). You're accuracy and velocity is very impressive. I was particularly impressed at 3:50 regarding you spinning the shot like a football for extra range and stability in flight.
Thanks! The sling is an incredibly powerful and capable device, and what top athletes could have achieved with it in the past is far beyond what I'll ever manage. That said, there are still many tests I like to do with it, which could provide at least some insight.
It was estimated that balearic slingers using lead projectiles had a stopping power of .44 calibre - it's a stone flying with more force behind it than average throw, if that hits your head then you oughta be dead unless you have protection.
This is amazing, I've always wondered how these slings work. I also couldn't help but laugh when you were standing at that rocky beach which resembles a ground covered with suitable projectiles and I thought about what it would look like if it was ammunition for archers or gunmen instead of rocks. Makes sense that this was such a powerful and versatile weapon, when you can basically pick up your ammo left and right while on the run or chase.
I've had the same thought! Another thing is that you can carry a sling at all times because it's compact and light. There is a downside though...once you've used a sling, you will never see stones the same way again.
I found this video because a sling is an available weapon in a tabletop roleplay system I’m playing in, and I wanted to understand what a character would be doing with it. Now I’ve watched all your sling videos and would really love to try making one and learning to use it. Great history lesson too!
I'm always excited and happy to see people like you keeping ancient means of combat alive. While these sort of weapons have no place in a modern battlefield, something like a sling can be useful in self-defense.
Absolutely useful for self defense if a guy tries to attack you and you pull out this and start spinning he will run away since everyone knows the punch those slings have
There is no scenario outside of ridiculous fantasy ones where you could possibly get a sling out, seat the stone, wind up, and have time to release on target.
Nice video. I used to play with slings when I was a kid, never thought of if a professional adult had one. Cheered me up watching that, thanks, liked and subscribed
Honestly the balearic sling doesn't get enough credit as such an ingenious way to take advantage of leverage and momentum to propel a missile with much more force than you can with just your arm.
I've always assumed an oblong projectile from a sling would tumble. I thought the reason for using oblong shot/rocks was that they're less likely to accidentally roll out of the sling before release. It's SO cool that you showed that they're spin stabilized when thrown correctly.
If you don't mind my asking, why won't you ever use a sling? They don't make much effort or cost to make, aren't very strenuous to use, and really aren't that difficult to get _vaguely_ accurate with! (it just takes a lot of time and practice for the fine accuracy and power that some, like our beloved Archaic Arms, have developed)
@@CaspianT well I just don't have much interest in it, that's why I found it impressive that a three part series about slings managed to keep me interested the whole way through hahaha
@@a.lollipop Ah, that's fair. I didn't even consider a lack of interest in the hobby, haha! I guess that shows how biased I am towards slings; thinking they're irresistible, hehe
Greetings from Baltimore Maryland! I just wanted to say that I have now made 11 slings since watching your video on how to make a sling. I have used hemp, jute twine, Kevlar cord and paracord. My latest one is by far my best yet and I used some thin paracord to make it. I altered some things from your tutorial such as the pouch size and how I terminate the end of the sling. I was using a fall hitch like on a bullwhip but now I’m using a series of overhand knots wrapped around the tail of the sling which results on a cool spiral knot at the end. I take my sling with me on my weekend bike ride that has a trail that runs alongside a big river. There are some nice clearings where there are plenty of rocks to throw and I’m very careful to make sure nobody is around and don’t throw blindly into the woods and around bends where I can’t see. I’m really starting to get proficient at throwing and I’ve even had some people become curious about the sling and ask questions. A few of my friends have asked me to make them one! It’s a hobby that I stumbled on by accident when RUclips suggested your video about the history of slings after which, I found your video on how to make one. I’m very grateful that you have shared your videos because I get a lot of enjoyment from my new hobby! Thanks!!
@@IronGoober I’m so glad I stumbled across videos about slinging (including yours!). I’m practicing every day and getting exponentially better at it pretty quickly. It’s so satisfying and fun. Thank you also for putting out your videos, I learned a lot from your advice as well!
Goodness gracious, already I can tell that I will be coming back to this video time and time again. There's so much to learn in such a short video! Thank you very much for such an excellent guide!
Seriously though, I was wondering where exactly this was at. I’ve never seen a place like that where I live. I mean we have some stony shore beaches, but most of those rocks are jagged and rough and all kinds of alternating sizes. Sounds like there might be a river nearby (still watching the video so forgive me if this is obvious later in the video 😂). I’ve been to a few rivers that had a stones like this but never quite so many.
So cool. I love ancient technology. Even though it is seen as primitive they had more understanding about stuff that we may have lost today. The bronze age is a really interesting time period.
I was always amazed as a kid when I saw depictions of these in documentaries about ancient times. I almost could not believe that it could be a weapon of war. But this video shows it without doubt.
I have medled myself with slings quiet a lot like 20 yrs ago, having done archery and some fencing, later HEMA, with interest in history. I came across them while living in Spain, where I met galician (Galicia is the northwestern tip of Spain, right above Portugal) shepherds who keep them in use, mostly for hunting rabbits, though originally also to shy away predators. And as a pasttime, since herding sheep obviously can have its dull moments. They usually used the overhead shot, which I have found to be the most accurate one myself, since while you move your arm in a straight vertical line down you have mostly to bother with distance, not sideway trajectory. For the shepherds that had also to see a lot with their prey sitting low on the ground. But I have only met 2 of them, so that doesn't make for good statistics. The upward shot I found more usefull if you want range and a higher ballistic arc, the hipshot I never really found very usefull. Historical sidenote: I have read once that roman legionaries tended to carry around one or two of them too. Which I consider believable, because they are very light, cost next to nothing, ammunition for them comes for free, if you are happy with a simple stone and can provide for a good meal while on a field trip. But also you find in Ceasar's 'Bellum Galicum' a lot of reference to Legionaries exchanging missile shots with their foes while standing on the ramparts of their fortified camps. I consider it highly unlikely they used their pilum or other spears a lot for this, because those were expensive and limited in number, while apparently a lot of taunting used to happen before a real fight broke out. You would want the things with pointy ends still available once it did. It would make a lot more sense for the legionaries to just pick up some stones and shoot them with slings during preleminary stages of a battle or a prolonged siege, if only to intimidate with the chance to hurt someone badly enough to put him out of the fight.
The wait between videos is worth every second, I hope you know that what you've posted about these slings will be a timeless classic instructional video that I'll be digging up for years.
Now I know how young David was able to defeat giant Goliath, although young David was no average Joe as he was of exceptional ability and strength. I had no idea a sling could be both so precise and powerful. Amazing.
I could imagine him watching sheep all day that he would have plenty of time to practice with it. And even though he hit him with the first stone he still picked up a few. I'm sure he had no intention of getting within arm's length until he was down for good.
and I think he hit Goliath in the head, giant he may be, Goliath's head is still of flesh and bone David then beheaded Goliath with Goliath's own sword
Goliath said "Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks" from which I've always assumed David was armed with a staff sling. After watching this, though, I'm reevaluating the "ordinary" sling and wonder if David had a staff (his secondary weapon?) in his off hand. How would that affect his slinging? Balance? Extra support? Anyone tried it?
This video is excellent! Everything about it relaxed yet perfectly measured and precise. 7am on a Saturday morning the my algorithm butler says "...perhaps this sir". And by jove, a perfect start to the day!
Just started my slinging journey yesterday. Dude your stance and form is absolutely phenomenal. You begin the strike like a rotation and half away from the release. Gonna have to study your form because you manage to get some serious power. I almost hit a bird by mistake that perched on the tennis wall, the bird's fault for attracting my brain mid spin up.
This video is fantastic, and thanks for making it! I bought a sling myself from a crafter on ebay and tried it out today at my local river, it is very difficult. Quite something when you realise a rock that you could only throw about 20m can now be launched around 70m. No doubt about it, this is a terrific weapon in the hands of a practiced slinger, hearing those rocks crashing down on the other bank makes you wonder how unpleasant it would be to be struck by one. After a couple hours I could get rocks within a 12ft box at about 30m with the odd flier. Further ranges, far worse accurracy. Seeing your accurracy in this video, must have taken hundreds of hours of practice. Bravo!
Some of the shot that was used (either lead or clay) had holes put into them to make them 'whistle' as they flew (the sound as can be heard on other videos this RUclipsr has made, sounds more like a buzz than a whistle). The aim possibly to induce fear into the recipient of said ammo - if thousands of these things are buzzing all over the place and many of them are hitting your comrades it must have been a frightening experience to be in the firing line.
Moving to Hawaii next week; I've decided to pick up slinging as a hobby so this series you've made has definitely sparked my interest. By the way, I used a momentum calculator & determined that you'd have to throw a cricketball over 200 mph to match the energy of throwing a 200 gram bullet at 70 m/s.
dude ive been practicing slinging rocks for a while now and you made me look like an absolute chump lol you have crazy good accuracy. very fun to watch
Indeed, he effectively had the concealed carry handgun of his era! Except, following the comparison, said concealed carry happened to be chambered in their equivalent of .357 Magnum. Lead sling bullets being analogous to .500 S&W of course. Granted the analogy falls apart when a sling can shoot both stones and lead sling bullets alike, among myriad other projectiles. (possibly including projectiles with Greek fire, sort of an archaic incendiary round, hehe)
David didnt carry lead pre-fabs, he collected river stones from the Jordan, and not just 1 but enough for Goliaths whole set of brothers. A stone is more than sufficient ammo for a skull, albeit a big thick finklestein skull. You saw how this fella sent a long narrow stone through the air like a modern bullet and now put it in the hands of a master like David who apparently regularly took on lions and bears. God is our Rock. The Rock is sufficient.@@CaspianT
@@knightforlorn6731 Oh yeah absolutely haha. Stones can be nasty, and I expect David chose _very_ carefully considering he only took five from a brook, stones which were probably somewhat pointed! Christ is indeed our rock. And hey, God is a slinger, too! (1 Sam. 25;29, Jer. 10;18, and maybe Isa. 22;18, that word for toss or hurl in Isaiah 22;18 is a little vague in Hebrew; could be about slings or it could be by hand!)
Brilliant! We may be needing this talentagain some day... You're either a gifted savant athlete, or a person who has amazing practice skills and patience in the face of hours of exponential failure. I believe the term, " one can't hit the broadside of a barn" originated with this weapon. Beware, beginners are capable of mass distruction, harm to others, and personal injury.
Love the video. I 100% agree that power does not necessarily mean a decrease in accuracy. Look at professional baseball pitchers for example. The technique developed through practice and familiarity allows them to hurl a baseball at ludicrous speeds. Now, if an individual were to dedicate time and training to a sling in a similar manner; they would be able to perform amazingly with both power and accuracy. It makes me wonder what sort of speeds someone of "that caliber" could achieve.
Brilliant video, liked a subbed. I have a sling already, sitting up on a shelf that I keep telling myself I'll learn to use but never have. This is the most clear and instructional video I have seen on the topic and I can't wait to actually get out there and try.
Awesome video-very detailed information and very rare topic- never have seen nothing like that, besides I knew about Balear slings from historic books, they was pretty feared in their times. Congratulations!
After watching this video a couple months ago and fumbling around with a few slings in my spare time, I had an epiphany yesterday, and now can reliably sling this way. Solid crack, solid distance, now to work on accuracy.
When I was about 12 I handmade one of these with leather scraps from a drawing I had seen of David and Goliath. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but still got quite good with the absolutely horrid softball style underhand spin that I was doing. 😂 completely not realizing how ridiculously powerful that thing was I accidentally put a hole in the barn wall with just a regular piece of granite gravel from the driveway and that wasn’t thin wood either. That was when my mom told me I should probably switch to something a little safer like a bow and arrow. 😂 It was a lot of fun though, I think I’m gonna have to make one of these and have some fun with my son. I was planning on making a small shooting range on my new property might as well play around with this too.
Thanks for teaching me that far before we starting firing projectiles from firearms we were utilizing the concept of what would become rifling to extend range and improve accuracy.
I think a good way to conceptualize the power and accuracy potential of the sling would be to throw baseballs with it at the same distance a pitcher would. Most North and Central Americans can likely appreciate a fastball from a baseball pitcher, so I think it could be a good illustration to test throwing a baseball as far or as fast as you can with a radar gun compared to the sling. Another test to contrast the efficiency could be to see how many projectiles of similar weights you can launch a given distance in a set amount of time while tracking your effort levels, maximum heart rate, recovery time, etc..
@@Archaic-Arms that's basically what I'm thinking of, just trying to figure out a way to relate it to something the general public could recognize and appreciate easier.
I once read that when David fought Goliath with a sling, he essentially brought a .44 Magnum to a sword-fight. I mean, that kid was a shepherd throwing rocks at stuff his whole life before he entered ranged single-combat with a slow-moving heavy infantryman. The biggest miracle of David vs. Goliath is that Goliath agreed to the fight at all. Dude didn't stand a chance against a faster opponent who could lob well-aimed rocks well outside of his range...
I mean God gave him lots of alone time to practice hitting snakes and such when he was a boy watching over his flock and a lion and a bear to fight no doubt he was confident in his abilities, but most importantly God was with him
@@JeremyWinkels no most importantly was the work he put into improving his accuracy. Giving all the credit for his work to god is just a bit disingenuous.
WOW! Didn't realise the slingshot could be so accurate in the hands of a skilled operator. Nice to meet you at Tewkesbury Abbey Sunday evening, good luck with the Welsh longbow, look forward to seeing videos here one day soon.
if you care to know how much practice you need to get as good as this fellow, pause at 0:43 and look at his callouses. that's how much practice you need.
It's so weird... I was gonna watch this out of curiosity but by 1:09 I almost recall a memory of someone teaching me how to do this a long time ago. Weird.
May god light your way in life, Brother Iv'been throwing wrong the whole time the loop was deep in my middle finger & i was throwing with random big & small stones but now I learned some quite helpfull info I will try to use wooden eggs & spin the sling behind before the throw & never losing patient, have a great day
I made a leather sling in BSA when I was just a teenager. I lost it many years ago, but a new one out some old leather scraps I found at antique store. I haven't launched anything from it in years, but still know how to. I was taught a slightly different technique, but im sure I could pick it up fairly quickly. What I really want to do is make one like yours!
Meanwhile playing Baldur's Gate 2 I have been wondering does those slings really do anything in real life. You have proven me wrong and I believe those sling shots can really crack some skulls. You made me want to craft my own sling and start practising.
Growing up in the early 1980's we played war with these. To be allowed to join in the game you needed to kill a groundhog at 50m (we were told america would convert to metric at the time). That way we knew you could control the lead ball. You were only allowed to hit someone from shoulder to hip in the back.
This weapon is an art form. To see the basic mechanics of a human throwing arm being transformed into a weapon is amazing. To think that my childhood instincts to throw and transfer kinetic energy is enlightening. Also, because "ooga booga rock go fast, hit thing, thing die" is always funny.
No wonder Goliath didn't stand a chance. A headshot with one of those smooth rocks would have obliterated his face, and mastery in accuracy doesn't seem impossible to attain
The accuracy of David was inhuman I mean Goliath was almost ten foot so he wasn’t a small target but David hit him square on the forehead and that’s hard to do when 10 feet of probably like 600 pounds of muscle and killing machine is straight charging you it truly was a miracle of God
Facinating. I was wondering what a MLB power pitcher can do with this thing... He's close as he "back loads" his lower half like a pitcher at 5:38. 74m/sec is no joke.
in the case of the Roman legions, many of the Legionaries would carry slings with lead shot. given that these were easily over an ounce each it was essentially like bullet fire, and catching one to the head would prove fatal unless you had a GOOD helmet even then, it would ring your bell and possibly knock you unconcious
For anyone that doesn't know, in ancient times when slingers were very common, different cultures would cast uniform lead shot to be used by slingers rather than relying on collecting similar stones. A cache of stockpiled lead shot was found in Athens I believe, and inscribed upon some were inscriptions which translated to "Take this!" or "Catch". Never doubt the wit of a Greek!
Lol! Catch is epic.
That is very very interesting I had no idea
Too bad they were Homosexual and Pedophile for little boys, and Ptolemy the First, Soter, was Alexander the Great Bodyguard Captain and His sons named was Ptolemy Philadelphus which means Lover of Siblings
That's like the way the military paints stuff on bombs and tank barrels. Interesting historical bit though.
@RonnieStanley-tc6vi
Romans drew penises and wrote things like "Suck this Octavius!" Or "For: Pompey's Ass"
I once visited a ranch where the local kids used slings that they weaves themselves a couple of hours from Mexico City. I learned to use it in about one weekend, meaning I could throw them at quite a distance somewhere in front of me. No accuracy whatsoever. Your skill is amazing. No, your skill is out of this world. They should have this at the Olympics. Instant subscriber!
Thank you sir!
Slings at the Olympics honestly sounds dope as hell, I'd watch
@dirkthewrench Mate, there is something called "the triple jump". You know how that started? Huh? Well it started with Johnny in London jumping some puddles not to get wet. Then his mother said, "Awesome me boy, we are going to start an olympic sport where you do as if you were jumping puddles"!
make a video with a local beginner and show how you teach sling
and train your off hand to hit targets
I dont think it would be a good idea though considering what would happen with a missed target
I never understood how Hannibal trusted the Balearic slingers to be his trusted skirmishers, engaging first in any combat against the Roman legions who were equiped with broad shields and heavy armor. Now I see that there is much more force behind those shots, and firing at a slow moving wall of shields certainly makes it easier to not miss.
If you aim for a steel shield/helmet, you'll hit but do no damage.
The goal of a mass of slinger firing together, is that if 600 stones/pellets fall on 100 soldiers, the odds of those stones hitting the spaces in the helmet, or on the legs, is high.
The goal is not to "hit" the armor, but hop that some shot will hit in between, through sheer number.
@@AnimatedStoriesWorldwide It's worth noting that a sling projectile doesn't have to be limited to a tiny pebble. Depending on the size and weight, they'll absolutely still give you a concussion when hitting a helmet, even if they don't fracture your skull outright.
@@AnimatedStoriesWorldwide "but do no damage". yeah, no. If it hits you in the head, it will still fuck you up.
There's a reason why sling projectiles are called "bullets", those things can and will penetrate armor, a shield pelted by these can eventually be punctured.
Virtually the entirety of Hannibal's army were a very diverse group of foreign mercenaries. Which is made his accomplishments even more amazing because his men fought for money while the Roman nationals s fought for out of patriotism. Somehow Hannibal sold his men the war with the Roman Juggernaut as a good way to turn a profit and managed to do so for quite a while.
There is a reason that SLINGS were used for hunting for a very, very long time. They can be accurate. They are also versatile (variety of ammo) and cheap to manufacture (tree fibers, etc).
I think a large part of why they can be so accurate is because they are an extension of our throwing instinct. Our brains are hard wired to figuring out the mechanics of levers attached to our shoulder for putting thrown objects in precise places. This latent knowledge isn't specific to arm geometry, so tools get to benefit.
@@homelessrobotgood explanation
@@homelessrobot Very much so. The atlatl is another good example of people using a tool to essentially extend their own limbs for more speed on thrown objects.
And quiet!
@@PRC533 They even put the sling on a stick by the same logic.
Goliath downvoted this.
David has entered the chat…
Looked for this comment. Saw it immediately. Good on you.
And the philistine throw laughing emoji
😂
you did what we should have
As a Balearic that meddled with slings in their youth, I salute you and say thank you ❤
Thank you sir!
I’m a PE teacher and I am determined to learn this and teach my students. It’s a fantastic way to bring a little history lesson into the classroom.
You’re going to be teacher of the year if you accomplish this. You will be their favorite class!
I’m an archaeologist, and I’ve found lead Roman sling bullets in Portugal. They are small versions of the the elongated shape you use here. So heavy for their size, they must have been deadly!
Recent testing concluded that a 50 gram lead slingstone (likely something resembling those that you've found) can have about as much kinetic energy on impact as a pistol bullet inside the effective range of the sling, so yes, they are absolutely terrifying, actually.
@@alexanderbergbacka6825no wonder David took out Goliath with it
@@redlizerad8268it makes it much less impressive lol. Goliath brought a knife to a powderless gun fight😂.
@@alexanderbergbacka6825шарик весом в одну унцию,брошенный с высоты 40 метров,дробит самый крепкий биологический череп- лошадиный.Таким образом,пораженный пращой всадник даже если и не погибал на поле боя,но как боевая еденица выбывал из строя.А что мог сделать целый отряд или даже целая армия,вооруженная пращами( в византийской армии уже в эпоху раннего средневековья пращой должен был владеть любой воин- как конный так и пеший),создав над врагом целый "дождь" из падающих камней и металлических шаров!!💥
@@alexanderbergbacka6825 50 gram object moving 243 fps (the same fps in the video) has 137 joules of energy. A common 9mm has around 418. So no that's bullshit.
Amazing to hear the crack of the sling, like a whip, on release of the stone. And those elongated stones looked absolutely wicked in flight. I had no idea they existed. I can only imagine how devastating it would have been to be hit by one, armor or not. Like a sort of medieval gun, wielded by the gunslingers of their time. Gives a whole new perspective to the "David vs Goliath" story. Amazing. Thanks for sharing this!
Slings were just such a good basic weapon. Easy to get ammo, pretty deadly. One of the main reasons greaves were wrong was because slings would just shatter legs bones on people.
And probably the most important feature of a subsistence weapon; no special tools are required to manufacture it. Just a bunch of scrap fiber and nimble hands.
That's a lot of damage
Fun.
Also cheap to make and easy to carry along with your regular equipment.
I have absolutely no doubt that a skilled professional medieval slinger could penetrate, and possibly even perforate a human skull.
Ive not looked into this point in any great detail, but I've seen enough videos about it now to have seen a guy punch a hole straight through a fresh coconut at 75 yards.
Imagine a ball bearing shaped metal projectile at hundreds of gps smashing straight into a human skull from 15 yards...
yeah, I'm sure they could blow someone's brains out with a sling, as gruesome a thought as that is.
As someone who used to throw the javelin competitively, I can see that your throwing mechanics at 2:06 are seriously impressive.
something that has always amazed me is the ability us humans have to be able to see an object a distance (sometimes fairly extreme ones) and just be able to tell exactly how we need to angle and move our arms in order to hit said object with a projectile. it's completely natural and require 0 thinking. you just grab a thing, look at target, and let your body and brain do their thing. it's wonderful to me how your brain just somehow knows exactly how much force is needed, what angle, what speed of rotation for your joints, how to position your body, and even where to aim in order to lead a shot. our bodies and minds are wonderful things
When I first started playing tennis with my dad (not well, mind you) at around 12 or 13, I think we were talking about how I was having a hard time getting to the ball to hit it back, and as he was telling me I'd get better at it he told me something like "Think about how difficult this would be to get a robot to do"
We see a little ball coming at us, measure its speed and rotation. We probably then predict where that speed and rotation will cause the ball to go after it hits the ground and bounces off. We then figure out where we're going to stand, at what angle to hold this weird extension at the end of our arm, and twist our bodies to hit that ball back at a desired speed to a certain location and with a desired amount of spin
And we do that all in a couple seconds or less. And then we get even better at it. Now that I'm older and more experienced, I don't really need to see the spin on the ball at all because I can tell what it will do based on how the other person swung. And sometimes I even have enough of an instinct for it to know a type of shot is coming because of the angle they're standing, where on the court they are, etc
All this to say, yeah I agree, we're actually pretty nuts if you break down a lot of the things we're doing and look at them all
Throwing things are human super power. We throw extremely hard and accurately relative to our weight class, instinctually. Other, much stronger primate, can not do this at all. Some don’t even have the biological structure to throw over hand. They may lob a heavy rock a meter or 2 but they can not throw a rock or a spear 50 meters with enough force to kill and enough accuracy to nail a small or moving target
That's why golfers who rely on their natural athletic ability are better than more mechanically minded players. Your brain is amazing and performs calculations for you.
Not exactly, have you ever seen an average girl throw.
This reminds me a lot of my bedroom trash can. I used to toss trash across my room to that trash can when I was feeling too lazy to get up, and being a teenager at the time that was most of the time. My aim originally was not great. I tried really hard to aim and then throw but would only make it maybe 25% of the time. Then one day while involved in a really intense video game and not having the time to aim I just threw it without thinking and it made it easy. I started doing this more and more and quickly realized that when I didn’t bother to aim at all and did it without thinking about it first, that I was actually successful 75% of the time. I’m even better now, but at the time a 25% to 75% jump was huge especially considering it practically happened over night. That’s when I learned I was thinking about it way too much and my own brain was getting in its own way, I had to stop over thinking and just do. And if it’s something I’ve done often enough muscle memory just takes over, my body and part of my brain know what to do instinctively, I just need to back off and let them do their thing 😂
This channel is the best sling content on youtube. Thanks for the video! I would be interested in seeing a practice curriculum, starting from absolute beginner. For example, beginner projectile recommendations, distance, types of throws to practice from easier to harder, etc., if that's something you would be willing to put up.
Stumbled here by mistake. I didn't know I was a slinger!
Absolutely agree.
One of my favorite things about RUclips is discovering a new hobby and new super niche content 😂
And yes, I would absolutely love to see a curriculum as you put it based around level. One of the things I noticed when trying to learn how to blow a horn recently is that a lot of people are good at giving some advice, but most are terrible at breaking it down simple enough and detailed enough for absolute beginners. Not everyone is a natural teacher and there’s nothing wrong with that, but still, if anyone could teach this to me I would be very grateful 😂
I’ve only seen one video so far so I don’t know if he already gives out all the necessary knowledge or not, but either way I’m excited to learn how to sling over the coming weeks lol
The algorithm blessed me with this video. I’ve always wondered how a sling works and seeing it in such detailed motion and explanation really uncovers how incredible this historic weapon and tool this was.
Same!
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
They should put this into the Olympics. Really fun to watch. Seems really rewarding to hit those long range small targets at such speeds too. Maybe they could score on speed+accuracy to encourage maximum force. Your skills are amazing.
Ancient but still deadly weapon. David was a master with it using it to protect his sheep from predators. Just ask Goliath he'll tell you such a thing had never entered his head before that day.
Ha, literally!
judeo-christianity is #fakenews l
He also had a few more stones in waiting just incase Goliaths brother's wanted a piece of the action 👍
You know, that is shown as the little vs the big, when it's actually more akin to someone using a gun vs someone without
How do you know he was a master? Maybe he just got lucky
Brilliant skills. Very impressive. Clear, accurate descriptions, too. This is what is good about the Internet. Thanks
Its amazing how extremely similar the technique (for these slings at least) is to a baseball pitch. The stride, hip and shoulder rotation, the timing, the elbow angles.
Exactly! His sidearm is almost identical to Kent Tekulvey [sp?] or Dan Quisenberry.
@@THX1138JJT Wow, Tekulve's motion is so similar its scary. Great eye.
I would totally pay this guy 6 denarius and 2 chickens per week to fight my wars. What a unit.
what wars do you have to pay him such a fee? 🤣
@@SufganiyotSecurity88The Brotherhood cannot reveal my son.
The only other sling comparison footage I've ever watched was years ago on a show called "Deadliest warrior". The stone they used was specifically tapered by hand into a rough football shape but was much smaller that what you're throwing. They dismissed it as not doing a fatal amount of damage but I'd be curious to see what one of these larger stones does to a skull (simulated of course). You're accuracy and velocity is very impressive. I was particularly impressed at 3:50 regarding you spinning the shot like a football for extra range and stability in flight.
Thanks! The sling is an incredibly powerful and capable device, and what top athletes could have achieved with it in the past is far beyond what I'll ever manage. That said, there are still many tests I like to do with it, which could provide at least some insight.
@yazmeliayzol624 Jew apologist justifying killing kids, what's new...
Deadliest warrior is the definition of unfair testing lol
They actually are pure evil
It was estimated that balearic slingers using lead projectiles had a stopping power of .44 calibre - it's a stone flying with more force behind it than average throw, if that hits your head then you oughta be dead unless you have protection.
This is amazing, I've always wondered how these slings work. I also couldn't help but laugh when you were standing at that rocky beach which resembles a ground covered with suitable projectiles and I thought about what it would look like if it was ammunition for archers or gunmen instead of rocks. Makes sense that this was such a powerful and versatile weapon, when you can basically pick up your ammo left and right while on the run or chase.
I've had the same thought! Another thing is that you can carry a sling at all times because it's compact and light. There is a downside though...once you've used a sling, you will never see stones the same way again.
I found this video because a sling is an available weapon in a tabletop roleplay system I’m playing in, and I wanted to understand what a character would be doing with it. Now I’ve watched all your sling videos and would really love to try making one and learning to use it. Great history lesson too!
The trajectory of the elongated projectile was very impressive.
Cheers! It makes a very big difference to range. Thanks for watching!
@@Archaic-Arms Do you just find randomly find the perfect ammo? Or do you have a method to make or search for them?
I'm always excited and happy to see people like you keeping ancient means of combat alive. While these sort of weapons have no place in a modern battlefield, something like a sling can be useful in self-defense.
Absolutely useful for self defense if a guy tries to attack you and you pull out this and start spinning he will run away since everyone knows the punch those slings have
There is no scenario outside of ridiculous fantasy ones where you could possibly get a sling out, seat the stone, wind up, and have time to release on target.
I could see it potentially being useful for modern guerrilla warfare; indirect fire of molotovs, or EMP emitters.
Sling a grenade @ foes behind cover. It'll increase the effective range versus throwing it because of how far it travels before exploding.
@@ericarnold1096 Gotta be skilled enough not to whiff the throw, though. I'd rather use an elastic slingshot for grenades.
I made a sling based off your previous video, but used jute. I needed a knot at the end though, so I was a bad boy! Thank you for this video!
I want to try it myself, only with the obscene amount stinging nettles in my back yard.
I think I could get real good at this.
Played baseball my whole life and the way you talk about the technique would translate really well.
Nice video. I used to play with slings when I was a kid, never thought of if a professional adult had one. Cheered me up watching that, thanks, liked and subscribed
Thank you!
Ive never seen a balearic sling before but you look like the type of person who would learn to use one and I respect that
Honestly the balearic sling doesn't get enough credit as such an ingenious way to take advantage of leverage and momentum to propel a missile with much more force than you can with just your arm.
Slings: Playing with physics since 5000 BC
This just gave me an incredible perspective on slingers and their potential, thank you youtube for randomly popping this gem into my feed
Glad you enjoyed it!
I've always assumed an oblong projectile from a sling would tumble. I thought the reason for using oblong shot/rocks was that they're less likely to accidentally roll out of the sling before release. It's SO cool that you showed that they're spin stabilized when thrown correctly.
yeah that was a real shocker... and undoubtedly utilized by the ancient mercenary slingers
It is a crucial element for the sling's long range capabilities.
I've watched quite a number of videos about slings over the years, but yours are the best.
Glad you like them!
I will probably never use a sling in my life, yet i watched this whole series. This was incredibly interesting!
If you don't mind my asking, why won't you ever use a sling? They don't make much effort or cost to make, aren't very strenuous to use, and really aren't that difficult to get _vaguely_ accurate with! (it just takes a lot of time and practice for the fine accuracy and power that some, like our beloved Archaic Arms, have developed)
@@CaspianT well I just don't have much interest in it, that's why I found it impressive that a three part series about slings managed to keep me interested the whole way through hahaha
@@a.lollipop Ah, that's fair. I didn't even consider a lack of interest in the hobby, haha!
I guess that shows how biased I am towards slings; thinking they're irresistible, hehe
Thank you! Very glad you found it worthwhile.
This is the golden standard for sling instruction! Thank you so much for this series! Vancouver island 🏝️ 🇨🇦
Awesome! I have been loving slinging so far and your channel definitely helps. Your demonstrations are excellent and I appreciate that!
Greetings from Baltimore Maryland! I just wanted to say that I have now made 11 slings since watching your video on how to make a sling. I have used hemp, jute twine, Kevlar cord and paracord. My latest one is by far my best yet and I used some thin paracord to make it. I altered some things from your tutorial such as the pouch size and how I terminate the end of the sling. I was using a fall hitch like on a bullwhip but now I’m using a series of overhand knots wrapped around the tail of the sling which results on a cool spiral knot at the end. I take my sling with me on my weekend bike ride that has a trail that runs alongside a big river. There are some nice clearings where there are plenty of rocks to throw and I’m very careful to make sure nobody is around and don’t throw blindly into the woods and around bends where I can’t see. I’m really starting to get proficient at throwing and I’ve even had some people become curious about the sling and ask questions. A few of my friends have asked me to make them one! It’s a hobby that I stumbled on by accident when RUclips suggested your video about the history of slings after which, I found your video on how to make one. I’m very grateful that you have shared your videos because I get a lot of enjoyment from my new hobby! Thanks!!
Wait until there is sling control legislation passed, and they make you get a background check for rope and rocks.😂😂
@@tray22 yep. No sawed off slings, automatic slings, slings with bump stocks etc. lol
Thanks for taking the time to share your story. It's made my day to hear the videos have had a positive influence!
Dude that's awesome! Glad you found slinging, it's my favorite activity.
@@IronGoober I’m so glad I stumbled across videos about slinging (including yours!). I’m practicing every day and getting exponentially better at it pretty quickly. It’s so satisfying and fun. Thank you also for putting out your videos, I learned a lot from your advice as well!
Goodness gracious, already I can tell that I will be coming back to this video time and time again. There's so much to learn in such a short video! Thank you very much for such an excellent guide!
This was incredibly informative. You're a natural teacher.
3:30 Man I'm so jealous of your ammo supply! Nice shots!
I'm a bit jealous of his skill!
Seriously though, I was wondering where exactly this was at. I’ve never seen a place like that where I live. I mean we have some stony shore beaches, but most of those rocks are jagged and rough and all kinds of alternating sizes. Sounds like there might be a river nearby (still watching the video so forgive me if this is obvious later in the video 😂). I’ve been to a few rivers that had a stones like this but never quite so many.
So cool. I love ancient technology. Even though it is seen as primitive they had more understanding about stuff that we may have lost today. The bronze age is a really interesting time period.
I was always amazed as a kid when I saw depictions of these in documentaries about ancient times. I almost could not believe that it could be a weapon of war. But this video shows it without doubt.
This is probably the best instructional video I've ever seen for anything
Thank you! Much appreciated.
I have medled myself with slings quiet a lot like 20 yrs ago, having done archery and some fencing, later HEMA, with interest in history. I came across them while living in Spain, where I met galician (Galicia is the northwestern tip of Spain, right above Portugal) shepherds who keep them in use, mostly for hunting rabbits, though originally also to shy away predators. And as a pasttime, since herding sheep obviously can have its dull moments.
They usually used the overhead shot, which I have found to be the most accurate one myself, since while you move your arm in a straight vertical line down you have mostly to bother with distance, not sideway trajectory. For the shepherds that had also to see a lot with their prey sitting low on the ground. But I have only met 2 of them, so that doesn't make for good statistics.
The upward shot I found more usefull if you want range and a higher ballistic arc, the hipshot I never really found very usefull.
Historical sidenote: I have read once that roman legionaries tended to carry around one or two of them too. Which I consider believable, because they are very light, cost next to nothing, ammunition for them comes for free, if you are happy with a simple stone and can provide for a good meal while on a field trip. But also you find in Ceasar's 'Bellum Galicum' a lot of reference to Legionaries exchanging missile shots with their foes while standing on the ramparts of their fortified camps. I consider it highly unlikely they used their pilum or other spears a lot for this, because those were expensive and limited in number, while apparently a lot of taunting used to happen before a real fight broke out. You would want the things with pointy ends still available once it did. It would make a lot more sense for the legionaries to just pick up some stones and shoot them with slings during preleminary stages of a battle or a prolonged siege, if only to intimidate with the chance to hurt someone badly enough to put him out of the fight.
The wait between videos is worth every second, I hope you know that what you've posted about these slings will be a timeless classic instructional video that I'll be digging up for years.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate to hear it's had a positive impact.
Now I know how young David was able to defeat giant Goliath, although young David was no average Joe as he was of exceptional ability and strength.
I had no idea a sling could be both so precise and powerful. Amazing.
I could imagine him watching sheep all day that he would have plenty of time to practice with it. And even though he hit him with the first stone he still picked up a few.
I'm sure he had no intention of getting within arm's length until he was down for good.
and I think he hit Goliath in the head, giant he may be, Goliath's head is still of flesh and bone
David then beheaded Goliath with Goliath's own sword
Goliath said "Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks" from which I've always assumed David was armed with a staff sling. After watching this, though, I'm reevaluating the "ordinary" sling and wonder if David had a staff (his secondary weapon?) in his off hand. How would that affect his slinging? Balance? Extra support? Anyone tried it?
he brought a gun to a knife fight
God almighty was with David. He had won before he threw the stone.
This video is excellent! Everything about it relaxed yet perfectly measured and precise.
7am on a Saturday morning the my algorithm butler says "...perhaps this sir". And by jove, a perfect start to the day!
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
This is brilliant. So expertly explained in the most simple way. Well done good sir!
Thank you sir!
Man, your channel is exactly what I needed! The way you present it is so graceful, such a calm demeanor :-)
Just started my slinging journey yesterday. Dude your stance and form is absolutely phenomenal. You begin the strike like a rotation and half away from the release. Gonna have to study your form because you manage to get some serious power. I almost hit a bird by mistake that perched on the tennis wall, the bird's fault for attracting my brain mid spin up.
This video is fantastic, and thanks for making it!
I bought a sling myself from a crafter on ebay and tried it out today at my local river, it is very difficult. Quite something when you realise a rock that you could only throw about 20m can now be launched around 70m. No doubt about it, this is a terrific weapon in the hands of a practiced slinger, hearing those rocks crashing down on the other bank makes you wonder how unpleasant it would be to be struck by one.
After a couple hours I could get rocks within a 12ft box at about 30m with the odd flier. Further ranges, far worse accurracy. Seeing your accurracy in this video, must have taken hundreds of hours of practice. Bravo!
Some of the shot that was used (either lead or clay) had holes put into them to make them 'whistle' as they flew (the sound as can be heard on other videos this RUclipsr has made, sounds more like a buzz than a whistle). The aim possibly to induce fear into the recipient of said ammo - if thousands of these things are buzzing all over the place and many of them are hitting your comrades it must have been a frightening experience to be in the firing line.
Moving to Hawaii next week; I've decided to pick up slinging as a hobby so this series you've made has definitely sparked my interest. By the way, I used a momentum calculator & determined that you'd have to throw a cricketball over 200 mph to match the energy of throwing a 200 gram bullet at 70 m/s.
So it's impossible to reach that speed with a cricket ball and a human throwing it, then, is what you're saying.
@@guiseppeperceval4930 Yep, a teenager with a sling could out-throw/pitch even the best athletes if he practiced enough.
This is the best video involving martial arts of all time
Really enjoying this series, it's nice too see the history that doesn't really make it into Hollywood movies. I can't wait to try this out.
You have amazing skill and your video is entertaining, informative, and perfectly edited.
dude ive been practicing slinging rocks for a while now and you made me look like an absolute chump lol you have crazy good accuracy. very fun to watch
The Sling is so strong, Its basically as if David brought a Gun to fight Goliath.
Indeed, he effectively had the concealed carry handgun of his era! Except, following the comparison, said concealed carry happened to be chambered in their equivalent of .357 Magnum. Lead sling bullets being analogous to .500 S&W of course.
Granted the analogy falls apart when a sling can shoot both stones and lead sling bullets alike, among myriad other projectiles. (possibly including projectiles with Greek fire, sort of an archaic incendiary round, hehe)
David didnt carry lead pre-fabs, he collected river stones from the Jordan, and not just 1 but enough for Goliaths whole set of brothers. A stone is more than sufficient ammo for a skull, albeit a big thick finklestein skull. You saw how this fella sent a long narrow stone through the air like a modern bullet and now put it in the hands of a master like David who apparently regularly took on lions and bears. God is our Rock. The Rock is sufficient.@@CaspianT
@@knightforlorn6731 Oh yeah absolutely haha. Stones can be nasty, and I expect David chose _very_ carefully considering he only took five from a brook, stones which were probably somewhat pointed! Christ is indeed our rock. And hey, God is a slinger, too! (1 Sam. 25;29, Jer. 10;18, and maybe Isa. 22;18, that word for toss or hurl in Isaiah 22;18 is a little vague in Hebrew; could be about slings or it could be by hand!)
@@knightforlorn6731. Beautiful !!
Brilliant! We may be needing this talentagain some day...
You're either a gifted savant athlete, or a person who has amazing practice skills and patience in the face of hours of exponential failure.
I believe the term, " one can't hit the broadside of a barn" originated with this weapon.
Beware, beginners are capable of mass distruction, harm to others, and personal injury.
Love the video.
I 100% agree that power does not necessarily mean a decrease in accuracy. Look at professional baseball pitchers for example. The technique developed through practice and familiarity allows them to hurl a baseball at ludicrous speeds.
Now, if an individual were to dedicate time and training to a sling in a similar manner; they would be able to perform amazingly with both power and accuracy. It makes me wonder what sort of speeds someone of "that caliber" could achieve.
Thank you! One day I hope we shall find out.
I recon at least 100m/s with bullets, and frightening accuracy.
Brilliant video, liked a subbed. I have a sling already, sitting up on a shelf that I keep telling myself I'll learn to use but never have. This is the most clear and instructional video I have seen on the topic and I can't wait to actually get out there and try.
People realy tend to underestimate how accurate and powerfull sling can be.
There are reasons why slingers were most feared troops of ancient era.
Absolutely. Very versatile and effective.
The single best slinging video I have ever seen.
Thank you sir!
Awesome video-very detailed information and very rare topic- never have seen nothing like that, besides I knew about Balear slings from historic books, they was pretty feared in their times. Congratulations!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!
I've always thought the sling to be an amazing and underrated ancient weapon. It's legendary and i think for got dangol reason.
When I was a kid, a Sunday School teacher told us how to make and use one of these. So I tried it. I couldn't hit nothing but the back of my head.
After watching this video a couple months ago and fumbling around with a few slings in my spare time, I had an epiphany yesterday, and now can reliably sling this way. Solid crack, solid distance, now to work on accuracy.
i have been waiting for this. i have made a sling and am making another following your guide. good content 👍.
The insight you give in this video is amazing. Makes me want to try it again.
When I was about 12 I handmade one of these with leather scraps from a drawing I had seen of David and Goliath. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but still got quite good with the absolutely horrid softball style underhand spin that I was doing. 😂 completely not realizing how ridiculously powerful that thing was I accidentally put a hole in the barn wall with just a regular piece of granite gravel from the driveway and that wasn’t thin wood either. That was when my mom told me I should probably switch to something a little safer like a bow and arrow. 😂 It was a lot of fun though, I think I’m gonna have to make one of these and have some fun with my son. I was planning on making a small shooting range on my new property might as well play around with this too.
Thanks for teaching me that far before we starting firing projectiles from firearms we were utilizing the concept of what would become rifling to extend range and improve accuracy.
I think a good way to conceptualize the power and accuracy potential of the sling would be to throw baseballs with it at the same distance a pitcher would. Most North and Central Americans can likely appreciate a fastball from a baseball pitcher, so I think it could be a good illustration to test throwing a baseball as far or as fast as you can with a radar gun compared to the sling.
Another test to contrast the efficiency could be to see how many projectiles of similar weights you can launch a given distance in a set amount of time while tracking your effort levels, maximum heart rate, recovery time, etc..
I could do an energy comparison of barehand throw vs sling, as that would give a rough idea of the increase in power from the mechanical advantage.
@@Archaic-Arms that's basically what I'm thinking of, just trying to figure out a way to relate it to something the general public could recognize and appreciate easier.
I grew up on the island of mallorca in the balearics and we were taught how to make these and use them. Was one of the more memorable days
I once read that when David fought Goliath with a sling, he essentially brought a .44 Magnum to a sword-fight.
I mean, that kid was a shepherd throwing rocks at stuff his whole life before he entered ranged single-combat with a slow-moving heavy infantryman.
The biggest miracle of David vs. Goliath is that Goliath agreed to the fight at all.
Dude didn't stand a chance against a faster opponent who could lob well-aimed rocks well outside of his range...
I mean God gave him lots of alone time to practice hitting snakes and such when he was a boy watching over his flock and a lion and a bear to fight no doubt he was confident in his abilities, but most importantly God was with him
@@JeremyWinkels no most importantly was the work he put into improving his accuracy. Giving all the credit for his work to god is just a bit disingenuous.
Tbf, if you're one of the strongest man at that era, you might understandably underestimated a lanky kid with pebbles
WOW! Didn't realise the slingshot could be so accurate in the hands of a skilled operator. Nice to meet you at Tewkesbury Abbey Sunday evening, good luck with the Welsh longbow, look forward to seeing videos here one day soon.
Had an entire army of green man like him in first Rome Total War. Quite formidable power it was
Bravo! I've watched this without seeing the other two parts of the series, but seeing this has made me want to watch the rest.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
if you care to know how much practice you need to get as good as this fellow, pause at 0:43 and look at his callouses. that's how much practice you need.
Watching these hit a target is so satisfying
It's so weird... I was gonna watch this out of curiosity but by 1:09 I almost recall a memory of someone teaching me how to do this a long time ago. Weird.
Power sacrifices accuracy without sufficient training, which you've got plenty of. Great tutorial, thanks!
2:06 That Sound man….! Sound like a mini Rail Gun 🤩
May god light your way in life, Brother Iv'been throwing wrong the whole time the loop was deep in my middle finger & i was throwing with random big & small stones but now I learned some quite helpfull info I will try to use wooden eggs & spin the sling behind before the throw & never losing patient, have a great day
man sees rock, man throws rock, man is happy
I made a leather sling in BSA when I was just a teenager. I lost it many years ago, but a new one out some old leather scraps I found at antique store. I haven't launched anything from it in years, but still know how to. I was taught a slightly different technique, but im sure I could pick it up fairly quickly. What I really want to do is make one like yours!
Meanwhile playing Baldur's Gate 2 I have been wondering does those slings really do anything in real life. You have proven me wrong and I believe those sling shots can really crack some skulls.
You made me want to craft my own sling and start practising.
Dude you are insanely good with that sling!
Growing up in the early 1980's we played war with these.
To be allowed to join in the game you needed to kill a groundhog at 50m (we were told america would convert to metric at the time).
That way we knew you could control the lead ball. You were only allowed to hit someone from shoulder to hip in the back.
Wouldnt a direct hit to the spine be extremely dangerous?
@@louisazraels7072 No because we didn't aim for it.
This weapon is an art form. To see the basic mechanics of a human throwing arm being transformed into a weapon is amazing. To think that my childhood instincts to throw and transfer kinetic energy is enlightening. Also, because "ooga booga rock go fast, hit thing, thing die" is always funny.
No wonder Goliath didn't stand a chance. A headshot with one of those smooth rocks would have obliterated his face, and mastery in accuracy doesn't seem impossible to attain
The accuracy of David was inhuman I mean Goliath was almost ten foot so he wasn’t a small target but David hit him square on the forehead and that’s hard to do when 10 feet of probably like 600 pounds of muscle and killing machine is straight charging you it truly was a miracle of God
Wow watching this guy made my blood run cold for Goliath yet my heart felt full for David and the protection he wielded ❤
I swore so loud when you sent that elongated stone flying that I startled my wife on the other side of the house!
Facinating. I was wondering what a MLB power pitcher can do with this thing... He's close as he "back loads" his lower half like a pitcher at 5:38. 74m/sec is no joke.
I recon professional slingers would have accurately slung bullets at a least 100m/s.
Just wanted to say that those rocks look smooth and cool as heck.
So does your ponytail 👍
I would love for the sling to be used in the olympics.
I recon we could see velocities go well past 100m/s if thousands of people became full time slingers solely focused on speed.
Best explanation of technique and form I've seen. I'd like to see more on the topic of rifling.
Cheers! Yes, rifling is indeed a crucial aspect of slinging, and not often mentioned/known about.
Dislikes are from philistines
Fantastic work friend. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Cant wait to get my hands on a sling so i can start my new lifelong hobby!
This is really cool bums me out that I'm missing my thumb on my dominant hand🤦🏻♂️ Don't play with rattlesnake's kids...
There are still ways you can use a sling! A sling with a release knot can be held between the index and middle finger, without the need for the thumb.
Fascinating. This and your last were very interesting. I thank the algorithm. Subscribed.
in the case of the Roman legions, many of the Legionaries would carry slings with lead shot. given that these were easily over an ounce each it was essentially like bullet fire, and catching one to the head would prove fatal unless you had a GOOD helmet even then, it would ring your bell and possibly knock you unconcious
I’ve never seen this weapon being used and I’m impressed by the creator of this video. Well done sir great content 👍🏼
Glad you liked it. Thank you!
just google palestinians throwing rocks at soldiers it's their go to weapon for ages